{plaid party: the drinks}

Out of all the plaid party posts, this one has got to be the most important one right!?!?  No holiday party is complete without some festive drinks.  Besides having the usual beer, wine and champagne available to our guests, we also whipped up a big patch of whiskey punch and hot spiked cider.  You have seen the whiskey punch on this blog before, but we did change up the recipe a little bit for this party.  Here are the ingredients and measurements for a party sized serving:

Plaid Party Whiskey Punch

• 1 handle of bourbon (Jim Beam, Maker's Mark, etc)
• 12 oz real grenadine
• 1 1/2 cups fresh orange juice
• 1 1/2 cups fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 cup of simple syrup
• 8 heavy dashes angostura bitters
• lemon peels from 5 to 6 lemons

1. Add all the ingredients into a drink dispenser or extra large pitcher, give it a good stir and you are ready to go.  We had about 40 people at our party and this entire recipe of punch disappeared in about an hour.  We ended up making another batch, so if you plan on having a big party I recommend that you double the recipe above.

The hot spiked cider is a great holiday recipe that we have made for our pumpkin carving party in the past.  Normally, we keep it hot by letting guests serve themselves from a pot on the stove which we keep on a low heat setting.  Our friends generously allowed us to use their unopened slowcooker for the plaid party.  I highly recommend using a crock pot or slow cooker if you plan on serving this so that you are able to keep the drink in a central place rather than on your stove! Here is a party sized recipe:

Party Sized Spiked Cider

• 2 containers of spiced cider- the ones we used are from Trader Joe's
• 2 fifths of Mount Gay Dark Rum (or 1 handle if you can find it)-also available at Trader Joe's
• 2 to 3 table spoons of mulling spices (this is optional since the cider is already spiced, but it does add a little extra flavor)
• optional garnish: caramel squares cut in half and speared on to a drink stirrer

1. warm the spiced cider and mulling spices in a slow cooker or a large pot on the stove
2. once the cider is to the desired drinking temperature, add all of the rum
3. garnish with a piece of caramel on a stir stick

The plaid party was incredible, I had so much fun and it is definitely one my favorite parties we have thrown.  We may even make it an annual thing...